2011-01-01

Evolving Maritime Threats

Members of U.S. Coast Guard law enforcement seized a self-propelled
semisubmersible in September 2008 containing almost 7 tons of cocaine. It was
found about 350 miles west of Guatemala in the Pacific Ocean. [Petty Officer 1st
Class Nico Figueroa /U.S. Nav y]

DIÁLOGO STAFF

The methods and technology employed by narcotraffickers in avoiding detection
in the Eastern Pacific and Caribbean Sea are always changing. Clever new schemes
include cocaine-stuffed surfboards that carry drugs into the U.S. off the Pacific
coast, liquid heroin packets surgically implanted inside dogs, cocaine molded into
discs that look like Pringles potato chips and multiconsignment contraband,
according to José Corraliza, instructor at the U.S. State Department Antiterrorism
Assistance Program. Corraliza was among the experts speaking at the 2010 Maritime
Surveillance Latin America conference in Miami. The forum was organized by the
Institute for Defense and Global Advancement.

Another speaker, Rear Adm. William Baumgartner, Commander of the 7th U.S.
Coast Guard District, explained how drugs flow from South America to the U.S.,
Mexico and Europe and how drug money flows from these destinations into South
America. Illicit maritime trafficking in this region is not limited to drugs, he
explained. It also includes trafficking of undocumented migrants bound for the U.S.
from Cuba and Mexico, another maritime security threat.

SEMISUBMERSIBLES TRANSFORM

Narcotraffickers are using technology in more ways than ever before. Advanced
vessels are now the preferred form of transport in moving drugs and money shipments
undetected. Currently, the most commonly used trafficking vessel is the
self-propelled semisubmersible, or SPSS. These vessels vary in length from 12 to 24
meters and have a minimal amount of hull, typically 46 centimeters, exposed above
the water line, according to the Joint Interagency Task Force-South, an
international multiagency task force based at Naval Air Station Key West in
Florida.

In the past, SPSS vessels used three or four engineNATIONS FIGHT BACKs for
speed, but as authorities used this fact to profile vessels for interdiction,
traffickers shifted tactics. They began using one or two engines, said conference
speaker Ted Venable, a counter illicit trafficking program manager for the U.S.
Naval Forces Southern Command and U.S. Fourth Fleet. The State Department reported
that the use of SPSS vessels has doubled from year to year, and they can now hold
$10 million to $100 million worth of cargo. Corraliza, the counterterrorism
instructor, said the vessels are often made of fiberglass, wood, steel and
composites and they take between 90-120 days to build in hidden jungle “factories”
set up by traffickers. Use of these materials makes radar detection difficult and
increases the maritime security threat. International naval consultant Norman
Friedman said at the conference that SPSS vessels emit a limited amount of radar
energy or electromagnetic energy, rendering them invisible to modern technology.
This reduced radar signature and their limited, or absent, radio frequency limits
detection techniques to surveillance by coast guard planes and boats patrolling the
waters.

A top concern for maritime security experts who spoke to Diálogo at the forum
is the evolution from semisubmersibles to fully submersible vessels. U.S. Navy Capt.
Pete Husta spoke of how SPSS vessels have increasingly been replaced by
self-propelled fully submersibles, or SPFS. At an estimated cost of $2 million each,
SPFS vessels are more costly to manufacture and they require more technology and
training for the users, according to Friedman. These factors increase risks to
personnel and their profits, and may deter narcotraffickers from using SPFS.
However, Friedman worries about the prospect of drone-type semisubmersibles, which
he said can be remote-controlled and could theoretically be used to bring weapons of
mass destruction to major ports. Colombian police, quoted in a June 2009 article in
The Washington Post, reported that traffickers are attempting to build these drone
semisubmersibles, but to date there are no media reports to confirm they are in
operation.

NATIONS FIGHT BACK

To counter these new maritime threats, nations in the region are combining
forces and technology and implementing new regulations. One example is the Joint
Caribbean Operation, a partnership between Bahamas, Turks and Caicos and the U.S.
government. The Royal Bahamas Police and the Turks and Caicos Police forces work
with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Army, Coast Guard, Department of
Homeland Security and Department of State in the largest and oldest cooperative
international drug enforcement effort, according to the U.S. State Department
website. The effort uses emerging technology such as Predator unmanned aerial
vehicles to track and conduct overhead surveillance. Bahamian and U.S. governments
receive streaming imagery to assist them in interdiction efforts. They can then
notify local authorities or joint forces to halt the illicit activity. “This is not
an aircraft used for spying on people, it does not look into windows, and it does
not do the kind of spying that people think,” Michael Kostelnik, assistant
commissioner of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine unit, said of
the technology. “It is tracking a car [that received drugs from a boat] that we know
has narcotics in it somewhere in the island and telling law enforcement where it
is.”

The implementation of standardized regulations and sharing of technology are
additional tools that help integrate regional drug interdiction efforts. The
International Ship and Port Facility Security Code, developed by the International
Maritime Organization and its member states, supports security efforts by listing
conditions of entry, and requiring a notice of arrival from vessels. Scan systems
like the automatic identification system and long-range identification assist
governments in tracking their nation’s vessels and allow for international
authorities to exchange data. Because suspect actors do not adhere to these
regulations, they are singled out in these screenings.

TECHNOLOGY TO COMBAT TRAFFICKING

A new approach that brings together regional personnel expertise, technology
and regulations is the Virtual Regional Maritime Traffic Center of the Americas, or
VRMTC-A, a Web-enabled system of shipping data. Partner nations exchange shipping
vessel tracking data and communicate through multiple platforms within one system.
Nations that share information within this system include Brazil, Canada, Chile, the
Dominican Republic, Haiti, Mexico, Peru, the United States and Uruguay. These
partners contribute tracking information of vessels registered to their nations and
are able to view their counterparts’ contributions in real time. This common
operating picture can track 52,000 to 56,000 ships within 24 hours. The site has
collaborative Web 2.0 tools such as chats with an automatic translator for English,
Spanish, French and Portuguese; wikis; blogs; and forums. All of these capabilities
are available to current partner nations, as well as a newly-formed community of
interest to participate or collaborate on the socialnetworking site All Partners
Access Network, known as APAN. Despite the accessibility, the VRMTC-A is not
currently used by as many participants as it could support, said Rick Arias of the
Science, Technology and Experimentation division at U.S. Southern Command. The
VRMTC-A and multiple regional efforts contribute to maritime surveillance and
overall improved security in Latin America and the Caribbean. The governments of the
region are strengthening their collaboration and in turn increasing maritime
surveillance and providing more security in the Americas.